The Road to Getting Published: It Just Takes One

So, in my non-chronological order of The Road to Getting Published, I want to move on from the heartbreak and depression of constant rejection and look at something a little happier – a positive response!

As I said before, you’re going to face a lot of rejection. Some will be brutal, some will be dressed up nicely and at times you won’t hear ANYTHING (yeah, you know who you are!) but it only takes one positive response to completely change your world and make sure you keep working on getting that book of yours published. Again, I’m speaking from experience here.

Well, after the rejections (one actually quite a nicely worded one but still a no – see picture) and non-responders, I found some other publishers to submit to. I did that and then came more waiting. I hate waiting. I’m not a patient person at all and I should point out that I used to be a lot more impatient when I was younger – thankfully I’m better now or I’d have no friends left!

The longer this goes on without any results, the more other options start to creep into your mind. I started to think about the logistics or self-publishing and such, and while I’m not closing the book (I like puns) on that one, it’s not something I really want to do at this time. There’s a whole blog post worth of reasons but that’s for another day.

A step forward at last – I needed this!

Then it happened. It was the morning after seeing Avengers: Age of Ultron so I was already in a pretty good mood but I got an e-mail asking to see my full manuscript! I had to read it a couple of times and pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming but I was wide awake. I gave it a once over again, because I’m a little paranoid I’ve missed something and sent it on.

Woo!

I’m not getting ahead of myself

It’s important to keep grounded. Just because someone has asked to see the full manuscript of my novella doesn’t mean they’re going to instantly take it on. It’s a step closer than I’ve been before, so I have to take encouragement from that. At this stage, it’s balancing things out and trying not to let my imagination and the ‘what ifs’ take over and drive me insane.

I was in an incredibly good mood for the rest of the day – and the days that followed! I’m sure you can understand that and those of you who know me can picture how much I was just bouncing around. If you actually saw me then you have an even better idea.

It was better because that e-mail came a lot quicker than I expected. If a publisher gives you a timeframe, they normally stick pretty close to it and I’ve had a few come back to me after that with responses but never before. Whether that means anything or not, I don’t know but at this stage, I’d rather take all the positives I can as it helps balance out the rejections.

As I said, there’s no guarantee here. This is just another stage I have to go through but if you can’t take satisfaction from the small victories then you need to rethink your priorities – especially in this game.

The senior editors are likely to be a lot harder to impress but if I wasn’t on the right track then I would even have this little victory. Right?

Patience, patience and more bloody patience!

So, what’s next? Well, I’ve just got to keep going, keep searching for opportunities and believe that eventually it’ll get published. I have faith that this novella will do well if it gets out there, which is why I’ve been able to (mostly) keep a cool head throughout this whole process.

It’s not been easy and at times it really is depressing. Thankfully, I have good friends who I can rant to about it and that helps keep me sane. What’s annoying is that after sending off my full manuscript, it can take even longer to hear back. That’s normal because it’s a longer document they have to read but it’s still annoying (in an irrational way).

The journey is nowhere near over but I’m trying to stay positive for as long as I can. This took me one step closer. Let’s see how far along it will take me.

Sandra- I read City of Falling Angels on a train ride from Paris to Venice, then I spent a week in the city. I loved the book, but it might have had more to do with my excitment about the trip. Midnight is one of my faotvires though, you should definitely pick it up if you get a chance.